Support for Tribals and Adivasis

Christ Church Noida celebrated 'Tribal and Adivasi Sunday' on the 9th of August, 2015. A beautiful service, informative and enlightening too about Tribals and Adivasis. Highlighted were the following:

To protect and serve Tribals,

To acknowledge those who labour to produce food and other commodities without access to reading and writing,

To salute them as our first teachers, who identified the roots, fruits and meats we eat today,

Who evolved the science of tanning and developed the leather industry,

Potters. They brought clay to life, inaugurating a new chapter in history,

Weavers. Invented the spinning wheel and the looms, and used the cloth like a canvas to weave intricate designs,

Barbers. Our first doctors, who wielded razors to cut hair and to perform surgeries in the pre modern period,

Labour and Religion. In a positive religion, lobour is the best form of prayer…

Inside the Church during the Service.

Greetings and encouragement from the two Bishops present on the occasion.

With another member of the Congregation.

He asked to have a picture with me!

With the Santhali Group from 24 Parganas, W. Bengal. I have worked with, and photographed, the Santhalis, the Nagas and the adivasis of Jharkhand and Central India over the last 40 years. It was during this time that I got to understand these indigenous people.  

Someone took this amazing portrait of me! I received the final items for the ‘outfit’ directly from Dimapur, Nagaland, just 3 days before the event, and so I decided to wear it for the occasion. Presbyter-in-Charge (Priest) had requested members of the Congregation to come dressed in tribal attire for the occasion.  As far back as 1971 Pastor Mark Buntain of the Assembly of God Church, Calcutta, used to ask me to cover Nagaland. Also I got close to the Santhalis in 24 Parganas through the Cathedral Relief Services, St Paul’s Cathedral, Calcutta. Canon Subir Biswas ran the CRS then. What memorable times. In 1980 I started visiting the adivasis living in the Chhota Nagpur Plateau.   I went deep into Adivasi areas: Gumla, Chainpur, Samaypur, Garda etc. etc., and associated with the Urraos, Tiggas, Kujurs and others. I danced to the beat of their nagaras, sang their songs and drank their mahua and hariya. About five years ago I covered the Baigas of Madhya Pradesh. I was lucky to get the opportunity to study their customs and ways.